They failed him

He is only here because live exporters are breaking the law and getting away with it.

8 weeks prior to this investigation, Animals Australia warned Barnaby Joyce his live export laws were being broken in Kuwait. Hundreds of Aussie sheep were facing brutal slaughter. As the Festival of Sacrifice loomed, and with no intervention by the government, those hundreds turned to thousands. And not only in Kuwait. Our investigators tracked Australian animals across the Middle East. Laws are being broken everywhere we turn. Yet no export company is being charged.

8 weeks prior to this investigation, Animals Australia warned Barnaby Joyce his live export laws were being broken in Kuwait. Hundreds of Aussie sheep were facing brutal slaughter. As the Festival of Sacrifice loomed, and with no intervention by the government, those hundreds turned to thousands. And not only in Kuwait. Our investigators tracked Australian animals across the Middle East. Laws are being broken everywhere we turn. Yet no export company is being charged.

Damning investigation evidence

While the live export lobby was trying to reassure politicians that ‘all is well’ at the 2015 Festival of Sacrifice, Animals Australia investigators were in the Middle East, documenting the reality for animals...

Export laws are supposed to prevent the worst live export abuses. But across the Middle East, thousands upon thousands of Aussie sheep were being illegally sold for sacrificial slaughter. In backyards and makeshift abattoirs their throats were sawn open by inexperienced slaughtermen.

This is an Australian ‘industry approved’ facility in the United Arab Emirates. Animals Australia investigators documented Australian sheep being tied up and violently manhandled before they were subjected to fully conscious slaughter.

What’s happening inside this ‘approved’ abattoir in Kuwait breaches even Australian export laws. Dying sheep lay piled on top of each other after their throats were cut open over ‘blood drains’, in full view of other distressed animals waiting their turn to be slaughtered.

Sheep like this Australian Damara were sweltering in car boots. In extreme temperatures, some sheep languished inside locked boots for hours while they awaited their turn to be slaughtered.

When animals can no longer regulate their body temperature, their organs can begin to shut down, causing profound suffering and even death. Thousands of Australian sheep die this way on board live export ships every year. Those who survive the voyage also risk fatal heat stress in the extreme heat and humidity of the Middle East — conditions they aren’t acclimatised to.

Because some live export companies are continually breaking laws, scenes like this have become all too common. This frightened Australian sheep was tied up to make him easier to transport to a brutal ‘home slaughter’.

Unlike local animals, Australian sheep are not used to human contact — making them much more difficult to handle and much more susceptible to fear and suffering.

In Oman, sheep were being illegally sold in their thousands. Even one of Australia’s biggest export companies is urging the Australian Government to take action against companies that are deliberately breaking export laws.

Meanwhile, the live export industry’s PR machine has been in full swing. They told politicians Australian animals would only be slaughtered in ‘approved’ abattoirs. Yet in Kuwait they were being killed in filthy ‘slaughter rooms’, and in Oman and the UAE animals were illegally sold for brutal backyard slaughter.

The live export lobby told politicians there would be no contact ‘between animals and members of the public’. Yet sheep were being manhandled, bound with ropes, dragged, thrown over shoulders, and stuffed into car boots in searing heat.

The live export lobby told politicians that Australian export laws would be complied with. Yet Animals Australia investigators witnessed truckloads of animals being transported and sold illegally, exposing large-scale and deliberate law breaking.

The cruelty inflicted on Australian sheep in Kuwait was not only predictable — but also entirely preventable. Despite evidence of widespread chaos, the Australian Government gave live exporters a green light to ship thousands more sheep into an out-of-control market in Kuwait in the weeks leading up to the Festival.

Australian animals are paying the horrific price for re-offending live export companies that are acting as if they are above the law. Until the Australian Government prosecutes and suspends export licences, the cruelty will continue.

Demand charges be laid

The Festival of Sacrifice means big money to the live export industry. But for animals, it can mean chaos and cruelty.

Every year Aussie animals are sent into this frenzy of buying and killing. Live export laws are supposed to protect them from the worst abuses but some export companies are consistently breaking these laws, without consequence.

In 2015, across the Middle East, terrified sheep were dragged through the streets and stuffed in car boots in suffocating 48°C heat. Their suffering only ended when their throats were cut while fully conscious — either at private homes or in filthy makeshift ‘slaughter rooms’.

This carnage was not only brutal, it was avoidable. The Australian Government knew exporters were breaking export laws in Kuwait yet in recent weeks allowed them to send thousands more sheep into the region.

If the Australian Government was doing its job properly — and ensuring that the Department of Agriculture was doing its job properly — then export licences should have been cancelled and exporters could now be facing jail time. But the law-breaking continues. Animals keep suffering. And exporters are getting off scot-free.

It’s time to prosecute the offenders.

The Festival of Sacrifice means big money to the live export industry. But for animals, it can mean chaos and cruelty.

Every year Aussie animals are sent into this frenzy of buying and killing. Live export laws are supposed to protect them from the worst abuses but some export companies are consistently breaking these laws, without consequence.

In 2015, across the Middle East, terrified sheep were dragged through the streets and stuffed in car boots in suffocating 48°C heat. Their suffering only ended when their throats were cut while fully conscious — either at private homes or in filthy makeshift ‘slaughter rooms’.

This carnage was not only brutal, it was avoidable. The Australian Government knew exporters were breaking export laws in Kuwait yet in recent weeks allowed them to send thousands more sheep into the region.

If the Australian Government was doing its job properly — and ensuring that the Department of Agriculture was doing its job properly — then export licences should have been cancelled and exporters could now be facing jail time. But the law-breaking continues. Animals keep suffering. And exporters are getting off scot-free.

It’s time to prosecute the offenders.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Use this form to ask your MP to call on the Australian Government to prosecute law-breaking live exporters.

Send a powerful message to Australia using this form. Your message will be sent to the Australian embassy in your country.